A power duo splits up

For more than a decade now, the husband-and-wife team of Christopher Stampolis and Anna Song have been a power duo in Santa Clara politics. Stampolis, 48, is a member of the Santa Clara Unified school board, and Song, 46, is a long-time member of the Santa Clara County board of education. Both have been president of the Mission City Democratic Club. And both have stirred controversy: Stampolis and three other board members were the target of a no-confidence petition a year ago, and Song has had to fend off attacks from the proponents of charter schools. Politically, the two have been staunch allies.

Anna Song

The duo, however, is apparently no more: Stampolis has filed for divorce in the county’s courts, citing irreconcilable differences in the couple’s 16-year marriage. His paperwork, first submitted to the court in April, says that he and and Song have been separated since last December. Internal Affairs could not get comment from either party. But Stampolis is seeking custody of the couple’s two boys, aged 12 and 8. A status conference in the case is scheduled for July 30.

More concerning: according to the Santa Clara police department’s online arrest log, officers arrested Song at an undisclosed location around 8 p.m. July 7 for alleged misdemeanor battery of a spouse or ex-spouse. A spokesman for District Attorney Jeff Rosen said prosecutors haven’t decided whether to file charges.